Retail selling in the United States accounts for a substantial portion of the overall economy: the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that retail sales in January 2016 were $449 Billion. For the most recent full year reported, 2013, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that annual retail and food sales at over $5 Trillion. This spending breaks down into thirteen (13) categories: Motor vehicle & parts dealers (around 20 percent of total sales), Food & beverage stores (13%), General merchandise stores (12.5%), Food services & drinking places (11%), Gasoline stations (10%), Nonstore retailers (9.2%), Building material & garden dealers (6%), Health & personal care stores (6%), Clothing & clothing accessories stores (5%), Miscellaneous store retailers (2.3%), Furniture stores (2%), Electronics & appliance stores (2%) and Sporting goods, hobby, book & music stores (1.7%). Seven of these categories, collectively referred to as Traditional Retailers, Food & beverage stores (13%), General merchandise stores (12.5%), Health & personal care stores (6%), Clothing & clothing accessories stores (5%), Miscellaneous store retailers (2.3%), Electronics & appliance stores (2%) and Sporting goods, hobby, book & music stores (1.7%) account for forty-two-and-a-half percent (42.5%) of the total, or approximately $2.13 Trillion in sales in 2013.
The Traditional Retailers share many commonalities with regards to store set-up, and the use and placement of displays, tables, and fixtures. Traditional retailers use a variety of retail displays: gondolas, two-way garment racks, four-way garment racks, rounder garment racks, spiral garment racks, built-in shelving, custom millwork, gridwall displays, display tables, and slatwall fixtures, inter alia. Perhaps, the most common type of retail merchandise display fixture is the gondola.
A gondola is a stand-alone fixture, consisting of a flat base and a planar vertical face with notches, pegboards, or slatwalls. The planar vertical face uses standard slats or notches to hold a plurality of shelf supports. The gondola is popular because it can moved (relatively) easily, and it can be re-configured. The down-side of gondolas is that they look common and cheap, and they often have sharp edges on the shelving and brackets.
Traditional Retailers like things that can be easily re-configured, as stock and seasons change. Additionally, Traditional Retailers like distinctiveness, both in stock and in the look of their store. This necessitates the ability to make common fixtures look distinctive, which is relatively difficult.
Most of the improvements made to display shelving for Traditional Retailers have been concerned with adding new electronics: electronic pricing labels, out-of-stock indicators, mobile advertising, and shelf lighting. Very little effort has been expended on improving the actual displays, themselves. The Traditional Retail market is vast. The Traditional Retail market has an unmet need for an easily re-configurable, and distinctive, floor display, which can at least partially displace the relatively lackluster gondolas and display tables currently in use.